Law & Public Safety

Jury Duty

Call in Procedure

Stearns County has a “call in” system to inform jurors when their services will be required. The jury tape runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Instructions and the call in phone number are included in the jury questionnaire packet jurors receive in the mail. Stearns County Court Administration (320.656.3620) is the department to call with juror questions.

Where to Report

If your juror group number is selected, report to the Jury Assembly Room at the Stearns County Courthouse, 725 Courthouse Square, St. Cloud. Parking is available in the parking ramp to the west of the Courthouse. Note that there are some parking restrictions around the courthouse; use of the ramp for persons reporting for jury duty is recommended. The court will reimburse parking costs.

When to Report

First day jurors are instructed what time to report on the jury call in line. On subsequent days, jurors will be advised what time to report. Please be prompt. One late juror can waste the time of the many persons involved in a trial. Generally, your service day will be completed between 4:30 – 5:00 P.M.

Please note: No cell phones are allowed inside the courthouse or courts facility buildings. If you bring your cell phone with you, you will be asked to leave it at the door in a storage area (which is unsecured), or return to your vehicle to leave it there.

What to Bring

Jury service can entail some waiting time in the Jury Assembly Room, while you wait for assignment to the courtroom. You may want to bring reading materials, stationery, etc. Cell phones are not allowed and will be confiscated if you try to bring them into the court facilities.

How a Jury is Chosen

After you have reported for jury duty, the jury panel is sent to the courtroom for jury selection. A jury of twelve people will be selected for felony trials, and six people for gross misdemeanor and misdemeanor trials. The judge in the courtroom will explain the case and introduce the lawyers and other participants.

As part of jury selection, the judge and lawyers will then question the jury panel members to determine if anyone has knowledge of the case, a personal interest in it, or any feelings that might make it hard to be impartial. This process is called “voir dire”, a phrase meaning “to speak the truth.”

Questions asked during voir dire may seem personal but should be answered completely and honestly. The questions are not intended to embarrass anyone but are used to make sure that members of the jury do not have opinions or past experiences which might prevent reaching a fair and impartial decision.

Challenges

During voir dire the lawyers may ask the judge to excuse a juror from sitting on the case. This is called “challenging a juror.” There are two types of challenges: a challenge for cause and a peremptory challenge. Challenges may or may not require the lawyers to state any reason for excusing a juror. Challenges are intended to allow lawyers, both prosecution and defense, to do their best to assure that the trial is fair.

Common Questions

"Is there any way that I can get out of jury duty?"

The only jurors who are excused are jurors who are able to provide a doctor's statement that they are unable to serve because of a mental or physical problem. However, Court Administration will work with jurors to make their service more convenient; i.e., postponement to a less busy time of the year.

Doctors, day care providers, and over-the-road truckers, and students may be allowed more flexibility in their schedules -- blocking out days that they are not available and choosing one to three days during their term that they could serve.

"Does my employer have to let me off for jury duty? Do they have to pay me?"

The employer must allow an employee the time off to attend jury duty, but the employer is not required to pay for the time.

"I can't afford to do jury duty, because my children would need to be in day care. What can I do?"

Day care will be paid by the state if day care costs are not normally incurred. If the juror would normally be at work and his or her children are in day care anyway, the state will not reimburse the day care costs. But if it was the juror's day off and the children would not have been in day care, the fee for the day will be reimbursed.